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Head In The Clouds
Announcement On January 21, 2016 via twitter Callie Hunter tweeted that, even though she wasn't supposed to announce it yet, the title of her fifth major label album would be "You'll See" though later changing the title. On February 19th, 2016 Callie Hunter officially announced her fifth studio album Head In The Clouds and that it would be released on March 11th. The title is a reference to the phrase "head in the clouds" meaning daydreaming which is a nod to her debut album Daydreaming and 'clouds' as a reference to her indie album/mixtape Cloud 9. Release On February 19th, 2016 Callie Hunter announced the album would be release March 11th, 2016. Recording In October 2015 after her fourth studio album The Essence of Me had been released, Callie Hunter began to write for her new album with no set theme or sound in mind. In November 2015 she began to record songs with producer Ilya Reynolds and Lukas Allard later saying "i really like what we've been working on so maybe I will use these new songs an album" and as of January 27th, Callie had completed 39 total songs. Hunter has said that when her I Am Free tour (promoting her Winter Wonderland album) was completed she would continue to record music with new producers. On February 8th, 2016 Callie Hunter tweeted that she had two versions of the album's tracklist she could decide between but that the album was finished and that she had recorded all of the songs though added the album's second single "Be My Baby" last second. Composition Originally intended to be a pop/rock album, it was later changed towards an R&B/House direction. Callie announced multiple song titles via twitter Jan. 24th, 2016 and among them a song titled "Never Ending Love" was revealed to be a collaboration with an unknown guest vocalist, later verified as pop singer David Black. The final tracklist was completed around mid-February. On twitter Callie said that the album has trap and deep house undertones but is overall R&B/Pop and that one of the deluxe songs is a part two of an older song. One of the deluxe songs was written in 2009 for another recording artist but after the decided they didn't want it Hunter took it for herself. Callie said her favorite song on the album is "True Love" and that she wanted to include a song titled "Poison" but it had a sample that couldn't be cleared. Promotion The album is preceded by the collaboration "Strong" which features Callie Hunter. On January 17th, 2016, Callie announced that the next single would be coming soon and tweeted that she was excited for fans to hear it and that it it "a bit crazy." It was revealed the song was "Ridiculous." The album's official second single "Be My Baby" will be released March 4th and performed at the 2016 SIMMY Awards March 6th. On March 11th the album's third single was announced as "Renegade Vixen" and would be pushed towards Contemporary Pop and Adult Pop radio while "Be My Baby" would be pushed towards Rhythmic and Dance Radio stations. The album's fourth single "The Way It Is" was released March 18th, 2016 slated for streaming promotion as opposed to radio. On March 25th the album's third official radio single "Focus On Me" and a remix of the song was released along with the new song "Another Level" Tour On March 24th, 2016 Callie Hunter announced her second world tour the "PRIZM WORLD TOUR" which will begin April 18th, 2016. It's her second arena tour following 2014's "Teenage Birthday Tour" and her fourth headlining tour including her 2013 "Hello, Callie! Tour" and her 2015 "I Am Free Tour" Awards & Nominations In February 2017 Head In The Clouds along with two of it's singles "Ridiculous" and "Focus On Me" earned various nominations at the Simmy Awards. Head In The Clouds was nominated for Album Of The Year and for Best Pop Vocal Album. It is the first Album Of The Year nomination for Hunter since 2014's Happy Birthday. On the March 5th, 2017 SIMMY Awards, Callie Hunter's fifth studio album Head In The Clouds won Album Of The Year. Uniquely, it is the first time Album Of The Year was awarded to an album that lost it's genre-specific category. This is the first Album Of The Year win for Hunter and second nomination. After her win, many critics agreed the trophy could have gone to a more deserving title (namely Matthew The Rapper's Coloring Outside The Lines) but that "it was not misplaced in Callie Hunter's possession." Official Tracklist The official tracklist for the album's standard edition was announced on February 24th via an album sampler video previewing 15 seconds of each song. In the video there was a mistake with the final song being mislabeled as "All Night" instead of "Be Yourself" After hearing "Be My Baby" and after Sync Music told Hunter they wanted it to be the second single, the song "Be Yourself" was moved onto the deluxe version of the tracklist with an unknown song being pushed off the album. Critical Reception Upon release, Head In The Clouds, was met with favorable reviews. Many critics labeled the album as Hunter's best work to date. Previously many critics considered Hunter's debut album Daydreaming her best album. Many songs were highlighted as stand out tracks including singles "Ridiculous" "Be My Baby" and "Renegade Vixen" along with songs "Same Old Rhythm" "Adore" and "On My Mind." Overall, fans were satisfied with the album. Commercial Performance Prior to the release of the album, based on the sales/streaming/radio play of lead single "Ridiculous," Head In The Clouds was expected to enter the Sims Billboard Album 200 chart within the top 3 with around 115,000 in sales. A week following its release, the album exceeded expectations. Head In The Clouds opened at #1 on the Sims Billboard Album 200 Chart with a staggering 243,000 in opening sales, becoming Callie Hunter's best first week ever. A slight majority of the album's equivalent sales came from streaming, about 120,000 was from pure album sales. The album found success on other charts around the world including entering at #2 on the UK Albums Chart and #1 on the Canadian Album Chart. Radio play contributes to genre specific charting. The following week the album fell to #3 but rose back to #1 on the Sims Billboard Albums Chart after the announcement of Hunter's tour. The following week the album was #1 for a third week, down in performance by 16%. The next week the album fell to #2 but it's sales were officially totaled as 850,000 as of a month after release with predictions to hit 1 million quickly. It achieved this much faster than Hunter's previous #1 album. As of April 21st, 2016 Head In The Clouds rebounded to #1 for a fourth week and officially surpassed one million in sales and streaming equivalent sales becoming Callie Hunter's fastest album to become platinum in the US. The following week the album remained at #1 (down 14% in activity) becoming Hunter's album with the most time atop the album chart in the US. May 5th, 2016 the album fell 1-4. The second week of May the album continued to fall on the SBA200 chart from #4 to #7. May 19th, Head In The Clouds fell 7-9 on the SBBA200 Chart but achieved 1.5 million in sales that same week. The final week of May 2016, Head In The Clouds surged 9-4 on the newly renamed Album 200 Chart. The first week of June 2016 the album remained #4 on the Album 200 chart. June 9th, the album fell 4-7 becoming Hunter's longest stay in the top 10 of the Album 200 chart with 13 weeks in a row. June 17th the new Sims Billboard chart rule came into effect and Head In The Clouds fell 7-10 earning a 14th consecutive week in the chart's top 10. June 24th the album fell out of the Top 10 10-13. June 30th Head In The Clouds fell 13-19. July 7th the album fell 13-47, that same week reaching 2 million in pure sales in the US being certified double platinum in the United States and sold a total of 7.3 million world wide being certified 7x Platinum and hold the official distinction of Hunter's best selling album. On July 28th, 2016 Head In The Clouds fell 47-53. As of January 2017, Head In The Clouds ''officially became Callie Hunter's best selling album with 3.6 million sold in the US alone, and world wide sales of 8.1 million being certified x3 platinum in the US and x8 platinum world wide. ''Head In The Clouds is the third best selling album by a female artist this decade and the overall seventh best selling album this decade. The album also landed the #1 spot on Sims Billboard's Year-End Album chart, Hunter's first #1 on a year-end chart. After 68 non-consecutive weeks from 2016 to 2017, Head In The Clouds landed at #57 on the 2017 Year-End Album Chart. As of January 2018, Head In The Clouds was officially certified x9 Platinum with 9.1 million units world wide, remaining the third best selling album by a female artist this decade and becoming the 6th best selling album of the 2010s. Charts